solid-waste managementthe collecting, treating, and disposing of solid material that is discarded because it has served its purpose or is no longer useful. Improper disposal of municipal solid waste can create unsanitary conditions, and these conditions in turn can lead to pollution of the environment and to outbreaks of vector-borne disease—that is, diseases spread by rodents and insects. The tasks of solid-waste management present complex technical challenges. They also pose a wide variety of administrative, economic, and social problems that must be managed and solved.

Historical background

Early waste disposal

In ancient cities, wastes were thrown onto unpaved streets and roadways, where they were left to accumulate. It was not until 320 BCE in Athens that the first known law forbidding this practice was established. At that time a system for waste removal began to evolve in Greece and in the Greek-dominated cities of the eastern Mediterranean. In ancient Rome, property owners were responsible for cleaning the streets fronting their property. But organized waste collection was associated only with state-sponsored events such as parades. Disposal methods were very crude, involving open pits located just outside the city walls. As populations increased, efforts were made to transport waste farther out from the cities.

After the fall of Rome, waste collection and municipal sanitation began a decline that lasted throughout the Middle Ages. Near the end of the 14th century, scavengers were given the task of carting waste to dumps outside city walls. But this was not the case in smaller towns, where most people still threw waste into the streets. It was not until 1714 that every city in England was required to have an official scavenger. Toward the end of the 18th century in America, municipal collection of garbage was begun in Boston, New York City, and Philadelphia. Waste disposal methods were still very crude, however. Garbage collected in Philadelphia, for example, was simply dumped into the Delaware River downstream from the city.

Developments in waste management

A technological approach to solid-waste management began to develop in the latter part of the 19th century. Watertight garbage cans were first introduced in the United States, and sturdier vehicles were used to collect and transport wastes. A significant development in solid-waste treatment and disposal practices was marked by the construction of the first refuse incinerator in England in 1874. By the beginning of the 20th century, 15 percent of major American cities were incinerating solid waste. Even then, however, most of the largest cities were still using primitive disposal methods such as open dumping on land or in water.

Technological advances continued during the first half of the 20th century, including the development of garbage grinders, compaction trucks, and pneumatic collection systems. By mid-century, however, it had become evident that open dumping and improper incineration of solid waste were causing problems of pollution and jeopardizing public health. As a result, sanitary landfills were developed to replace the practice of open dumping and to reduce the reliance on waste incineration. In many countries waste was divided into two categories, hazardous and nonhazardous, and separate regulations were developed for their disposal. Landfills were designed and operated in a manner that minimized risks to public health and the environment. New refuse incinerators were designed to recover heat energy from the waste and were provided with extensive air pollution control devices to satisfy stringent standards of air quality. Modern solid-waste management plants in most developed countries now emphasize the practice of recycling and waste reduction at the source rather than incineration and land disposal.

Solid-waste characteristics

Composition and properties

The sources of solid waste include residential, commercial, institutional, and industrial activities. Certain types of wastes that cause immediate danger to exposed individuals or environments are classified as hazardous; these are discussed in the article hazardous-waste management. All nonhazardous solid waste from a community that requires collection and transport to a processing or disposal site is called refuse or municipal solid waste (MSW). Refuse includes garbage and rubbish. Garbage is mostly decomposable food waste; rubbish is mostly dry material such as glass, paper, cloth, or wood. Garbage is highly putrescible or decomposable, whereas rubbish is not. Trash is rubbish that includes bulky items such as old refrigerators, couches, or large tree stumps. Trash requires special collection and handling.

Construction and demolition (C&D) waste (or debris) is a significant component of total solid waste quantities (about 20 percent in the United States), although it is not considered to be part of the MSW stream. However, because C&D waste is inert and nonhazardous, it is usually disposed of in municipal sanitary landfills (see below).

Another type of solid waste, perhaps the fastest-growing component in many developed countries, is electronic waste, or e-waste, which includes discarded computer equipment, televisions, telephones, and a variety of other electronic devices. In 2006 e-waste made up 5 percent of the total solid waste stream, and the United Nations Environment Programme estimated that developed countries would triple their output of e-waste by 2010. Concern over this type of waste is escalating. Lead, mercury, and cadmium are among the materials of concern in electronic devices, and governmental policies may be required to regulate their recycling and disposal.

Solid-waste characteristics vary considerably among communities and nations. American refuse is usually lighter, for example, than European or Japanese refuse. In the United States paper and paperboard products make up close to 40 percent of the total weight of MSW; food waste accounts for less than 10 percent. The rest is a mixture of yard trimmings, wood, glass, metal, plastic, leather, cloth, and other miscellaneous materials. In a loose or uncompacted state, MSW of this type weighs approximately 120 kg per cubic metre (200 pounds per cubic yard). These figures vary with geographic location, economic conditions, season of the year, and many other factors. Waste characteristics from each community must be studied carefully before any treatment or disposal facility is designed and built.

Generation and storage

Rates of solid-waste generation vary widely. In the United States, for example, municipal refuse is generated at an average rate of approximately 2 kg (4.4 pounds) per person per day. Japan generates roughly half this amount, yet in Canada the rate is 3 kg (almost 7 pounds) per person per day. In some developing countries (e.g., India) the average rate can be lower than 0.5 kg (1 pound) per person per day. These data include refuse from commercial, institutional, and industrial as well as residential sources. The actual rates of refuse generation must be carefully determined when a community plans a solid-waste management project.

Most communities require household refuse to be stored in durable, easily cleaned containers with tight-fitting covers in order to minimize rodent or insect infestation and offensive odours. Galvanized metal or plastic containers of about 115-litre (30-gallon) capacity are commonly used, although some communities employ larger containers that can be mechanically lifted and emptied into collection trucks. Plastic bags are frequently used as liners or as disposable containers for curbside collection. Where large quantities of refuse are generated—such as at shopping centres, hotels, or apartment buildings—dumpsters may be used for temporary storage until the waste is collected. Some office and commercial buildings use on-site compactors to reduce the waste volume.

Solid-waste collection

Collecting and transporting

Proper solid-waste collection is important for the protection of public health, safety, and environmental quality. It is a labour-intensive activity, accounting for approximately three-quarters of the total cost of solid-waste management. Public employees are often assigned to the task, but sometimes it is more economical for private companies to do the work under contract to the municipality or for private collectors to be paid by individual home owners. A driver and one or two loaders serve each collection vehicle. These are typically trucks of the enclosed, compacting type, with capacities up to 30 cubic metres (40 cubic yards). Loading can be done from the front, rear, or side. Compaction reduces the volume of refuse in the truck to less than half of its loose volume.

The task of selecting an optimal collection route is a complex problem, especially for large and densely populated cities. An optimal route is one that results in the most efficient use of labour and equipment, and selecting such a route requires the application of computer analyses that account for all the many design variables in a large and complex network. Variables include frequency of collection, haulage distance, type of service, and climate. Collection of refuse in rural areas can present a special problem, since the population densities are low, leading to high unit costs.

Refuse collection usually occurs at least once per week because of the rapid decomposition of food waste. The amount of garbage in the refuse of an individual home can be reduced by garbage grinders, or garbage disposals. Ground garbage puts an extra load on sewerage systems, but this can usually be accommodated. Many communities now conduct source separation and recycling programs, in which homeowners and businesses separate recyclable materials from garbage and place them in separate containers for collection. In addition, some communities have drop-off centres where residents can bring recyclables.

Transfer stations

If the final destination of the refuse is not near the community in which it is generated, one or more transfer stations may be necessary. A transfer station is a central facility where refuse from many collection vehicles is combined into a larger vehicle, such as a tractor-trailer unit. Open-top trailers are designed to carry about 76 cubic metres (100 cubic yards) of uncompacted waste to a regional processing or disposal location. Closed compactor-type trailers are also available, but they must be equipped with ejector mechanisms. In a direct discharge type of station, several collection trucks empty directly into the transport vehicle. In a storage discharge type of station, refuse is first emptied into a storage pit or onto a platform, and then machinery is used to hoist or push the solid waste into the transport vehicle. Large transfer stations can handle more than 500 tons of refuse per day.

Solid-waste treatment and disposal

Once collected, municipal solid waste may be treated in order to reduce the total volume and weight of material that requires final disposal. Treatment changes the form of the waste and makes it easier to handle. It can also serve to recover certain materials, as well as heat energy, for recycling or reuse.

Incineration

Furnace operation

Burning is a very effective method of reducing the volume and weight of solid waste. In modern incinerators the waste is burned inside a properly designed furnace under very carefully controlled conditions. The combustible portion of the waste combines with oxygen, releasing mostly carbon dioxide, water vapour, and heat. Incineration can reduce the volume of uncompacted waste by more than 90 percent, leaving an inert residue of ash, glass, metal, and other solid materials called bottom ash. The gaseous by-products of incomplete combustion, along with finely divided particulate material called fly ash, are carried along in the incinerator airstream. Fly ash includes cinders, dust, and soot. In order to remove fly ash and gaseous by-products before they are exhausted into the atmosphere, modern incinerators must be equipped with extensive emission control devices. Such devices include fabric baghouse filters, acid gas scrubbers, and electrostatic precipitators. (See also air pollution control.) Bottom ash and fly ash are usually combined and disposed of in a landfill. If the ash is found to contain toxic metals, it must be managed as a hazardous waste.

Municipal solid-waste incinerators are designed to receive and burn a continuous supply of refuse. A deep refuse storage pit, or tipping area, provides enough space for about one day of waste storage. The refuse is lifted from the pit by a crane equipped with a bucket or grapple device. It is then deposited into a hopper and chute above the furnace and released onto a charging grate or stoker. The grate shakes and moves waste through the furnace, allowing air to circulate around the burning material. Modern incinerators are usually built with a rectangular furnace, although rotary kiln furnaces and vertical circular furnaces are available. Furnaces are constructed of refractory bricks that can withstand the high combustion temperatures.

Combustion in a furnace occurs in two stages: primary and secondary. In primary combustion, moisture is driven off, and the waste is ignited and volatilized. In secondary combustion, the remaining unburned gases and particulates are oxidized, eliminating odours and reducing the amount of fly ash in the exhaust. When the refuse is very moist, auxiliary gas or fuel oil is sometimes burned to start the primary combustion.

In order to provide enough oxygen for both primary and secondary combustion, air must be thoroughly mixed with the burning refuse. Air is supplied from openings beneath the grates or is admitted to the area above. The relative amounts of this underfire air and overfire air must be determined by the plant operator to achieve good combustion efficiency. A continuous flow of air can be maintained by a natural draft in a tall chimney or by mechanical forced-draft fans.

Energy recovery

The energy value of refuse can be as much as one-third that of coal, depending on the paper content, and the heat given off during incineration can be recovered by the use of a refractory-lined furnace coupled to a boiler. Boilers convert the heat of combustion into steam or hot water, thus allowing the energy content of the refuse to be recycled. Incinerators that recycle heat energy in this way are called waste-to-energy plants. Instead of a separate furnace and boiler, a water-tube wall furnace may also be used for energy recovery. Such a furnace is lined with vertical steel tubes spaced closely enough to form continuous sections of wall. The walls are insulated on the outside in order to reduce heat loss. Water circulating through the tubes absorbs heat to produce steam, and it also helps to control combustion temperatures without the need for excessive air, thus lowering air pollution control costs.

Waste-to-energy plants operate as either mass burn or refuse-derived fuel systems. A mass burn system uses all the refuse, without prior treatment or preparation. A refuse-derived fuel system separates combustible wastes from noncombustibles such as glass and metal before burning. If a turbine is installed at the plant, both steam and electricity can be produced in a process called cogeneration.

Waste-to-energy systems are more expensive to build and operate than plain incinerators because of the need for special equipment and controls, highly skilled technical personnel, and auxiliary fuel systems. On the other hand, the sale of generated steam or electricity offsets much of the extra cost, and recovery of heat energy from refuse is a viable solid-waste management option from both an engineering and an economic point of view. About 80 percent of municipal refuse incinerators in the United States are waste-to-energy facilities.

Composting

Another method of treating municipal solid waste is composting, a biological process in which the organic portion of refuse is allowed to decompose under carefully controlled conditions. Microbes metabolize the organic waste material and reduce its volume by as much as 50 percent. The stabilized product is called compost or humus. It resembles potting soil in texture and odour and may be used as a soil conditioner or mulch.

Composting offers a method of processing and recycling both garbage and sewage sludge in one operation. As more stringent environmental rules and siting constraints limit the use of solid-waste incineration and landfill options, the application of composting is likely to increase. The steps involved in the process include sorting and separating, size reduction, and digestion of the refuse.

Sorting and shredding

The decomposable materials in refuse are isolated from glass, metal, and other inorganic items through sorting and separating operations. These are carried out mechanically, using differences in such physical characteristics of the refuse as size, density, and magnetic properties. Shredding or pulverizing reduces the size of the waste articles, resulting in a uniform mass of material. It is accomplished with hammer mills and rotary shredders.

Digesting and processing

Pulverized waste is ready for composting either by the open windrow method or in an enclosed mechanical facility. Windrows are long, low mounds of refuse. They are turned or mixed every few days to provide air for the microbes digesting the organics. Depending on moisture conditions, it may take five to eight weeks for complete digestion of the waste. Because of the metabolic action of aerobic bacteria, temperatures in an active compost pile reach about 65 °C (150 °F), killing pathogenic organisms that may be in the waste material.

Open windrow composting requires relatively large land areas. Enclosed mechanical composting facilities can reduce land requirements by about 85 percent. Mechanical composting systems employ one or more closed tanks or digesters equipped with rotating vanes that mix and aerate the shredded waste. Complete digestion of the waste takes about one week.

Digested compost must be processed before it can be used as a mulch or soil conditioner. Processing includes drying, screening, and granulating or pelletizing. These steps improve the market value of the compost, which is the most serious constraint to the success of composting as a waste management option. Agricultural demand for digested compost is usually low because of the high cost of transporting it and because of competition with inorganic chemical fertilizers.

Sanitary landfill

Land disposal is the most common management strategy for municipal solid waste. Refuse can be safely deposited in a sanitary landfill, a disposal site that is carefully selected, designed, constructed, and operated to protect the environment and public health. One of the most important factors relating to landfilling is that the buried waste never comes in contact with surface water or groundwater. Engineering design requirements include a minimum distance between the bottom of the landfill and the seasonally high groundwater table. Most new landfills are required to have an impermeable liner or barrier at the bottom, as well as a system of groundwater-monitoring wells. Completed landfill sections must be capped with an impermeable cover to keep precipitation or surface runoff away from the buried waste. Bottom and cap liners may be made of flexible plastic membranes, layers of clay soil, or a combination of both.

Constructing the landfill

The basic element of a sanitary landfill is the refuse cell. This is a confined portion of the site in which refuse is spread and compacted in thin layers. Several layers may be compacted on top of one another to a maximum depth of about 3 metres (10 feet). The compacted refuse occupies about one-quarter of its original loose volume. At the end of each day’s operation, the refuse is covered with a layer of soil to eliminate windblown litter, odours, and insect or rodent problems. One refuse cell thus contains the daily volume of compacted refuse and soil cover. Several adjacent refuse cells make up a lift, and eventually a landfill may comprise two or more lifts stacked one on top of the other. The final cap for a completed landfill may also be covered with a layer of topsoil that can support vegetative growth.

Daily cover soil may be available on-site, or it may be hauled in and stockpiled from off-site sources. Various types of heavy machinery, such as crawler tractors or rubber-tired dozers, are used to spread and compact the refuse and soil. Heavy steel-wheeled compactors may also be employed to achieve high-density compaction of the refuse.

The area and depth of a new landfill are carefully staked out, and the base is prepared for construction of any required liner and leachate-collection system. Where a plastic liner is used, at least 30 cm (12 inches) of sand is carefully spread over it to provide protection from landfill vehicles. At sites where excavations can be made below grade, the trench method of construction may be followed. Where this is not feasible because of topography or groundwater conditions, the area method may be practiced, resulting in a mound or hill rising above the original ground. Since no ground is excavated in the area method, soil usually must be hauled to the site from some other location. Variations of the area method may be employed where a landfill site is located on sloping ground, in a valley, or in a ravine. The completed landfill eventually blends in with the landscape.

Controlling by-products

Organic material buried in a landfill decomposes by anaerobic microbial action. Complete decomposition usually takes more than 20 years. One of the by-products of this decomposition is methane gas. Methane is poisonous and explosive when diluted in the air, and it can flow long distances through porous layers of soil. If it is allowed to collect in basements or other confined areas, dangerous conditions may arise. In modern landfills, methane movement is controlled by impermeable barriers and by gas-venting systems. In some landfills the methane gas is collected and recovered for use as a fuel.

A highly contaminated liquid called leachate is another by-product of decomposition in sanitary landfills. Most leachate is the result of runoff that infiltrates the refuse cells and comes in contact with decomposing garbage. If leachate reaches the groundwater or seeps out onto the ground surface, serious environmental pollution problems can occur, including the possible contamination of drinking-water supplies. Methods of controlling leachate include the interception of surface water in order to prevent it from entering the landfill and the use of impermeable liners or barriers between the waste and the groundwater. New landfill sites should also be provided with groundwater-monitoring wells and leachate-collection and treatment systems.

Importance in waste management

In communities where appropriate sites are available, sanitary landfills usually provide the most economical option for disposal of nonrecyclable refuse. However, it is becoming increasingly difficult to find sites that offer adequate capacity, accessibility, and environmental conditions. Nevertheless, landfills will always play a key role in solid-waste management. It is not possible to recycle all components of solid waste, and there will always be residues from incineration and other treatment processes that will eventually require disposal underground. In addition, landfills can actually improve poor-quality land. In some communities properly completed landfills are converted into recreational parks, playgrounds, or golf courses.

Recycling

Separating, recovering, and reusing components of solid waste that may still have economic value is called recycling. One type of recycling is the recovery and reuse of heat energy, a practice discussed separately in Incineration. Composting can also be considered a recycling process, since it reclaims the organic parts of solid waste for reuse as mulch or soil conditioner. Still other waste materials have potential for reuse. These include paper, metal, glass, plastic, and rubber, and their recovery is discussed here.

Separation

Before any material can be recycled, it must be separated from the raw waste and sorted. Separation can be accomplished at the source of the waste or at a central processing facility. Source separation, also called curbside separation, is done by individual citizens who collect newspapers, bottles, cans, and garbage separately and place them at the curb for collection. Many communities allow “commingling” of nonpaper recyclables (glass, metal, and plastic). In either case, municipal collection of source-separated refuse is more expensive than ordinary refuse collection.

In lieu of source separation, recyclable materials can be separated from garbage at centralized mechanical processing plants. Experience has shown that the quality of recyclables recovered from such facilities is lowered by contamination with moist garbage and broken glass. The best practice, as now recognized, is to have citizens separate refuse into a limited number of categories, including newspaper; magazines and other wastepaper; commingled metals, glass, and plastics; and garbage and other nonrecyclables. The newspaper, other paper wastes, and commingled recyclables are collected separately from the other refuse and are processed at a centralized material recycling facility, or MRF (pronounced “murf” in waste-management jargon). A modern MRF can process about 300 tons of recyclable wastes per day.

At a typical MRF, commingled recyclables are loaded onto a conveyor. Steel cans (“tin” cans are actually steel with only a thin coating of tin) are removed by an electromagnetic separator, and the remaining material passes over a vibrating screen in order to remove broken glass. Next, the conveyor passes through an air classifier, which separates aluminum and plastic containers from heavier glass containers. Glass is manually sorted by colour, and aluminum cans are separated from plastics by an eddy-current separator, which repels the aluminum from the conveyor belt.

Reuse

Recovered broken glass can be crushed and used in asphalt pavement. Colour-sorted glass is crushed and sold to glass manufacturers as cullet, an essential ingredient in glassmaking. Steel cans are baled and shipped to steel mills as scrap, and aluminum is baled or compacted for reuse by smelters. Aluminum is one of the smallest components of municipal solid waste, but it has the highest value as a recyclable material. Recycling of plastic is a challenge, mostly because of the many different polymeric materials used in its production. Mixed thermoplastics can be used only to make lower-quality products, such as “plastic lumber.”

In the paper stream, old newspapers are sorted by hand on a conveyor belt in order to remove corrugated materials and mixed papers. They are then baled or loose-loaded into trailers for shipment to paper mills, where they are reused in the making of more newspaper. Mixed paper is separated from corrugated paper for sale to tissue mills. Although the processes of pulping, de-inking, and screening wastepaper are generally more expensive than making paper from virgin wood fibres, the market for recycled paper should improve as more processing plants are established.

Rubber is sometimes reclaimed from solid waste and shredded, reformed, and remolded in a process called revulcanization, but it is usually not as strong as the original material. Shredded rubber can be used as an additive in asphalt pavements, and discarded tires may be employed as swings and other recreational structures for use by children in “tire playgrounds.” In general, the most difficult problem associated with the recycling of any solid-waste material is finding applications and suitable markets. Recycling by itself will not solve the growing problem of solid-waste management and disposal. There will always be some unusable and completely valueless solid residue requiring final disposal.